07.07.07 Vertical Epic Ale | Stone Brewing

0 characters.
We love reviews! Turn your rating into one with ≥ 150 characters. Awesome. Thanks for the review!

In English, explain why you're giving this rating. Your review must discuss the beer's attributes (look, smell, taste, feel) and your overall impression in order to indicate that you have legitimately tried the beer. Nonconstructive reviews may be removed without notice and action may be taken on your account.

Notes / Commercial Description:
In this year’s edition we took our inspiration from two Belgian styles: Saisons and Golden Triples. As such, the Stone 07.07.07 Vertical Epic has a deep, deep golden hue and the flavor is spicy, fruity, complex and refreshing. We used four different malts, and a subtle, yet distinct, blend of Glacier and Crystal hops to get just the right balance. Then, for the complexity, we added in some exotic spices --- including ginger, cardamom, grapefruit peel, lemon peel and orange peel (the latter three acknowledging our Southern California home) --- and a special Belgian yeast strain. All in all this is yet another case of us drawing from classic Belgian influences and cavalierly making it our own...San Diego style!

Head on this golden ale disappears almost instantly. Given its age, I am not too surprised. I tried to pour gently but still managed to land some of the yeast beasts into our Teku glasses.

Syrup, honey and white grape notes predominate. A bit of ginger and citrus pith. A bit of creaminess but maintains dryness in the finish. Carbonation is crisp and tight; it feels really good on the palate. I wish a bit more fruit character would come out and play with the delightful carbonation. Medium to medium-full body.

Overall this is an interesting beer that I held onto for almost six years. I'm guess a year younger might have actually been its prime time as there is a hint of oxidization. This maybe would have been best for a 08.08.08 or 09.09.09 release? Some of the fruit and spice notes have been mellowed out too much in the aging process without much else to give way.

Thanks to Jeff for cracking this - my first taste of any Vertical Epic ever. For some reason I've always passed them up on the shelves, but I was excited to try one that was 5+ years old. Vertical Epic 07 pours the murkiest and swampiest shade of trudgy brown with a yellow-ish tint that I've ever seen. Completely opaque to any and all light and capped with a foamy, big-bubbled, quickly settling eggshell head. Looks like swampy butt juice, seriously what the hell?

Oh gosh, the aroma is even more strange and nebulous than the appearance of this beast. Tomato juice, bubblegum, belgian yeast, vinegar, pounds of ginger, sour-ish cardamom, highly vegetal... Is this a beer or a spiced V-8 splash? Not sure how you blend a saison and tripel and end up with this, though perhaps some of the disarray is induced by the added (and unnecessary) spices. This surprisingly gets a little better as it warms, but it's still a pretty awful smelling beer.

The taste is just a bit better, maybe because at first, the flavors are kind of masked. It still has the weird, vegetal-ish, V-8 flavor happening with more green hints (celery, lettuce?) and that's really killing things for me. The ginger is kicked up about ten notches as well, and it's mildly sour and does not play well with the also-copious amounts of cardamom. This brew is a pretty tough one to stomach, though I think I can make it.

The back-end brings some slight reprieve as there's finally a hint of something I recognize and like in my beer - Belgian yeast. Some bready yeast, clove, and just a bit of citrus peel. Once the strange tartness (seriously, where does this tart note come from) finally fades and the vegetal flavors have a chance to leave your palate, you can finally taste the Belgian influence and all hope is not lost. Unfortunately, I think it's too little, too late.

No complains on the mouth feel, and the carbonation was pretty good considering nearly six years of age was placed on this sucker. But for real, this was pretty awful. I managed to choke all of it down, so it did not enter drainpour territory, although it was getting awfully close. I think it might be a good thing that this beer will never be made again, for the sake of beer drinkers everywhere.

Remarkable orange-amber color; crystal clear with a small but partially durable head. Very little lacing.
The aroma is not promising, with too much suggestion of vinegar. Otherwise, a wild mix of spices over a fruity base. The flavor also has a suggestion of vinegar but, thankfully, this is much more subdued.
M: Still lightly hot, the higher ABV is not well hidden. Low carbonation works well.

O: At 6 years, probably the oldest beer I've had, and probably past its prime, even if specially delivered by Stone. Still, interesting, fun and enjoyable, if flawed and slightly challenging.